Socialite Jasmine Hartin pleaded guilty tonight to “accidentally” shooting a Belizean police chief, telling media she wants his family “to be at peace now.”
The estranged partner of Lord Ashcroft’s son, Andrew, burst into tears as she made her plea at the Supreme Court in Belize City, where she was set to stand trial today for negligent homicide.
The court has been adjourned for the sentencing hearing, which is expected to take place on May 31.
Out of court, Hartin said, “I just want Henry’s family to be at peace now and I want this whole thing behind all of us so we can heal.”
At today’s hearing, prosecutors presented Judge Ricardo Sandcroft with a file of evidence that would be revealed if the trial went ahead.
Canadian socialite Jasmine Hartin (right) photographed outside Belize City’s Supreme Court today after being charged with manslaughter after shooting to death a ‘friend of a police officer’
Hartin has admitted to shooting Chief Inspector Henry Jemmott (pictured) when his gun accidentally went off as she wielded it as they had drinks together on a pier in May 2021
Pictured are Lord Ashcroft’s son Andrew, 44, (left) and his former partner Jasmine Hartin (right), on trial for manslaughter in Belize
Hartin said that before the incident, Supt Jemmott asked her to rub his shoulder because it was sore after his day of fishing.
In a 2022 interview with Piers Morgan, the mother-of-two claimed that Supt Jemmott invited her and partner Andrew, 44, the son of the former Conservative Party vice-chairman, for drinks.
But she went alone to meet him after Andrew opted for an early night at their apartment in San Pedro on the holiday island of Ambergris Caye off Belize.
She pointedly denied the rumors that she was having an affair with Supt Jemmott, insisting that their relationship was one of friendship.
At the time of the incident, 7 News Belize reported that Hartin Supt was giving Jemmott a shoulder massage when the Glock pistol accidentally went off.
After hearing shots, Belizean police officers rushed to the scene, where they found Hartin covered in blood.
In waters nearby, Supt Jemmott’s body was found with a single gunshot wound to his skull.
Hartin said there was a “loud bang” and then “Henry fell on top of me again…I could see blood and feel the blood.”
She added, “I tried to get out from under him.
“And then he started slipping in the water and I tried to catch him and of course he was a lot taller than me so I couldn’t hold him.”
Pictured is Belize Superintendent of Police Henry Jemmott, who was shot dead in 2021
Hartin pictured under a blanket as he left Hattieville Prison in Belize last June
She claimed that after pushing his lifeless body away from her, he fell off the pier into the water.
Last August, the socialite alleged vengeful cops conspired to kill her and disguise her death as a botched prison escape.
She said at the time that “corrupt” police in Belize City unlocked her cell in the middle of the night and motioned her to a back door – insisting she was free to go.
Sensing it was a trap, Hartin refused to run, telling officers, “I know you’ll shoot me in the back.”
The alleged incident occurred when Hartin was detained on May 19, 2022 for allegedly arranging “hits” on Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams and a family court magistrate.
She was cleared this week by Williams, who admitted there was never any credible threat to himself or Dale Cayetano, who oversaw Hartin’s custody battle with ex-partner Andrew Ashcroft, the son of Britain’s Lord Ashcroft.
“They came to me and said, you are free to go. I went out the front door and they said, no, no, no, go out the back door,” she told the Mail.
“I knew exactly what that meant. The police are notorious in Belize and it’s a trick they use. They usually shoot you or re-arrest you and hit you with more charges for trying to escape.
Hartin and former partner Andrew, 44, had five-year-old twins Charlie and Elle together before opening sprawling Alaia in May 2021
‘I said, not a chance. I know exactly what you’re up to, you’re shooting me in the back. They started laughing at me and said, you are smart Hartin.
“They wouldn’t give me food or water either and they made me clean the toilet with my bare hands. It was disgusting.”
In Belize, Hartin met Andrew Ashcroft. The manslaughter case led to the end of their relationship after he allegedly denied her access to their apartment and restricted access to their five-year-old twins, Charlie and Elle.
Hartin filed for custody in family court, but the case ended abruptly after Commissioner Williams announced that an unnamed woman allegedly hired a Belize City street gang to take herself and Cayetano out.
On May 26, 2022 — six days after Hartin was taken in for questioning — Cayetano transferred legal custody of the children to their father, who soon left Belize and moved to the Turks and Caicos Islands to open a new hotel.